Mercury Mariner Hybrid

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Mercury Mariner Sets

The gas-electric hybrid Mercury Mariner gets more than 30 mpg in city driving, with enough room for four (or five) people and lots of luggage. Just 2,000 will be built in 2006, plus another 18,000 sibling Ford Escapes.

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Mariner Battery Pack

This case holds 250 nickle-metal hydride (NiMH) D-cell batteries, providing 330 volts at 5.5 amp hours. Mounted in the rear of the Mariner, the battery pack has enough punch -- up to 39 kilowatts -- to get the car going from 0 to 25 mph before the gasoline engine kicks in. There's also a standard 12-volt battery for things such as keyless entry.

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Keyless Entry

6
Standing Tall

The Mariner stands 70 inches tall and 70 inches wide. That gives drivers and passengers a higher view of surrounding traffic, but it also makes it more tipsy than the average SUV, says the Department of Transportation. Though it offers independent suspension, up to six airbags, and anti-lock braking, the Mariner lacks stability-control electronics that provide some protection against rollovers.

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Like a Nav System, Only Smaller

The Mariner's navigation system gets you where you're going, but the screen is just 4 inches (diagonal). It uses regional CDs instead of a coast-to-coast DVD and forces relocation of the in-dash CD changer to under the passenger seat. Zooming the map requires three separate operations, and resuming your route after a stop requires three yes-I-agree clicks. One very nice feature: The radio volume knob adjusts the nav directions volume, instead of being buried several layers down in a setup menu.

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How Good Was My Mileage?

Press the gasoline-pump icon, and a fuel-economy readout pops up on the LCD. The bar graph (left) shows instantaneous mpg. The area chart (right) shows fuel economy over your previous 15 minutes of driving, plus the average economy (a horizontal line made overly busy by overlaying text).

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Two-Part Map Zoom

Most nav systems have two zoom buttons: zoom in and zoom out. Despite the 21 buttons that forced downsizing of the LCD to just 4 inches (diagonal), zoom is a three-step process: Press the zoom button (see lower left corner of screen), slide the rocker button (lower right) up or down, then press Enter. Sheesh.

12
CVT Transmission

The Mariner uses an electronically controlled, continuously variable transmission, or CVT. Unlike most CVTs with variable-size drive pulleys and a strong steel belt, the Mariner uses a variable planetary gear system. Either way, it works fine.

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